Warrior's Lair Cancelled For PS3 And Vita

The PlayStation 3 and PS Vita exclusive Warrior's Lair is no longer in development, Sony confirmed today. The action RPG, formerly known as Ruin, was announced two years ago at E3 with great fanfare.

"Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm that Warrior’s Lair for PS Vita is no longer in development," a Sony spokesperson told IGN. "We apologize to those who pre-ordered the title and ask that they contact their retailer directly to cancel their pre-sale."

Warrior's Lair was an action RPG played from an isometric perspective. Players fought their way through dungeons with destructible environments and loads of loot. Sony also promised multiple character classes and a complex progression system. Yes, there were a lot of Diablo comparisons.

The most intriguing aspect of the game was its Lair system. Lairs were personal dungeons that players could customize to their liking. They could place relics inside of them in order to enhance their character's power. However, other players could invade these lairs and steal the relics. In order to protect these items, then, players had to fill their lair with monsters and bosses. There was going to be co-op as well but this combination of competitive play and user-generated dungeons really made the game stand out.

Warrior's Lair players would be able to switch between the PS3 and Vita versions on the fly and retain their progress. This cross-play feature is par for the course these days. However, Warrior's Lair was the first game to show off this feature at E3 2011.

The first hints at Lair's development problems came a few months after the Vita's launch. Idol Minds, the original developer of the game, was pulled off the project by Sony. Lair was then re-assigned to a team at Sony San Diego. We didn't hear a thing about the game since then, so it's not a shock to hear it's been canned.

The Sony rep reminds IGN that they have over 85 titles still coming to the Vita this year, including Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate and Killzone: Mercenary. Still, Warrior's Lair seemed like one of the most promising new IP's for the platform so its cancellation will be mourned all the same.